Tee hee, and now for a temporary traffic boost.

So, I was updating all of my articles to follow the teaser format.

A cool secular testimony

I remember I used to dislike getting up for fast and testimony meetings because I knew I was lying to myself and others, and I didn’t want that So I didn’t do it very often.

Eventually, I got to this point where I would put aside all the stuff I didn’t believe about the church (which just so happened to be the religious and spiritual stuff), and focus on the stuff I could believe in (the practical and pragmatic teachings). And so, when I read accounts of members who raise similar concerns, I smile inside. Cletus, a spouse of one of the permabloggers at Feminist Mormon Housewives, writes such an account.

Bloggy stuff, and a word from Irr(Dis)G’s sponsor!

So, I just updated some things around the blog…you will notice, for example, that now, my main page doesn’t show the entire blog entry in one fell swoop…so if you want to read the rest of the article, you’ll have to click the “Read more” link.

Yeah, I’m so special, I just learned how to do that (and honestly, it took me involvements with four blogs to do it. I’ve never done it here before, I’ve never done it at my old blog, others did it for me at Main Street Plaza, but I finally learned how to do it at Mormon Matters.)

Do you have true faith?

For me, I have a title that is utterly, utterly easy for me to answer. I can say, “No, and I’m not interested in the wares you’re peddling.”

Somehow, I understand anti-mormon and anti-theist thought

I know there are a lot of people who say things like, “Those exmormons — they leave the church but they can’t leave it alone!” and they’ll make a bunch of remarks about why that might be so. Perhaps it’s because these exmormons know the truthful nature of the church and just can’t handle it! So in their new-found sin it boils over and they try to resist, but they can never leave it alone.

…Or maybe it’s that people tend not to be able to leave things that have been central to most of their lives alone. Maybe? Nah, couldn’t be.

Sexuality as disability

Hmm…I’m just rereading through an old Mormon Matters post about a case of a young gay man in the church, Stuart Matis, committing suicide. It’s situations like these when I can’t really “buy” church rhetoric. I can look at and say that I recognize that for many members, the church does help out with their lives. For many potential converts, it is a good thing for their lives if they want it.

But at some time, people need to stop looking at it — at least as it has been made an institution on this world — as this perfect thing. I guess the faithful answer would be to say, “The church is perfect, but the people aren’t…” and that would be why there are tragic things like this, and then appeal to hope for revelation or progress, and I’m not going to take some kind of full-time job being an anti or anything. But I think that when an individual collides with doctrine, perhaps he needs to evaluable if he ought to distance himself than to come to some conclusion that it is better to be dead than “unrighteous.”

Standing for…nothing?

That Hemant Mehta guy…he blogs like I only wish I could blog. You may have heard of him and his site: Friendly Atheist (in fact, more of you gentle readers will be familiar with his site than mine). Or how he sold his soul on eBay. (To be honest, after reading the details of what exactly that entailed, I really wish I were that clever. Like that guy who had that $1-per-pixel website [the million dollar website])

But really, I’m not that clever. I probably could post multiple articles a day (I have several articles in queue right now just getting old and stale, in fact). But I dunno, I probably won’t. I probably also won’t have as good an alexa rating. (anyway, I just found out that FA isn’t even a solo job. Cheaters, the lot of them.)

Guys, wrong scapegoat!

I have seen certain comments in reaction to certain events where black people seem to…uhh…stick out? And not in a good way. So whether it’s black people supposedly booing the inclusion of nonbelievers in the inauguration (or, even if it wasn’t that rude, some black Christians aren’t happy at least.) or black people overwhelmingly voting in California to ban gay marriage, people will comment about how the experience should have precluded those things. Let’s see some examples:

This is what theists LITERALLY believe — atheists are ugly

That’s right. Not only do atheists have ugly souls, but they are ugly on the outside too. And it’s because they are ugly, lonely, social outcasts that they dabble with things like atheism. This is added to the great list of things that cause atheism. I’m not making this up, guys. Let’s read on:

BlackBerry to Windows Mobile; Milk before Meat

…I’m sorry and I feel bad because this post is super outdated. But you know; Irr(D)G has a queue of like…7 or 9 posts that are ready to get published at any time now. I’m like…totally on a roll with these readymade posts. (cough cough please update your blogs other bloggers even though you have lives and I don’t ^_^)…

Over the holiday season, I got into the Christmas spirit. And you know what? It didn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It was stressful as heck. Trying to find the perfect gift for someone who doesn’t really know what they want is terrible. People should submit lists of exactly what they want. Or ask for money.

Now, I’m sure lots of people believe in homemade and sentimental gifts but…I’m not even going there. And don’t get me started on ’surprise’ gifts. You don’t know me and you can’t make me happy with a surprise. Just give me the money. (gift cards don’t count.)